startups, entrepreneurs, Investors

TechStars, the Startup Boot Camp, Coming to Seattle Next Fall, Led by Andy Sack

Gregory T. Huang 12/16/09

Yes, it’s another big rumor confirmed today… TechStars, the two-year-old seed-stage investment fund and boot camp for tech startups, announced it is expanding to Seattle in the fall of 2010. Seattle entrepreneur and investor Andy Sack will lead the local effort as executive director. Sack has previously served as a mentor in Boston and in Boulder, CO, where TechStars began. He also co-leads Founder’s Co-op, an early-stage startup fund based in Seattle.

Each three-month session of TechStars accepts about 10 startups, and applications for Seattle will open next May. The program provides extensive mentoring and up to $6,000 to each co-founder, in exchange for a 6 percent equity stake in the company.

Last month, a TechStars event in Seattle organized by co-founders Brad Feld and David Cohen led to an interesting discussion about startup culture in Boston, Seattle, and Boulder—as well as the tolerance for failure in various entrepreneurial circles.

The list of mentors for the Seattle program reads like a who’s who of the local tech innovation scene: so far, they include (this is not a complete list) Alex Algard, Adam Brotman, Marcelo Calbucci, Chris DeVore, Steve Hirsch, Josh Hug, Ben Huh, Nathan Kaiser, Glenn Kelman, Shane Kim, Andy Liu, T.A. McCann, Neil Patel, Josh Petersen, Dave Schappell, Edward Yim, and the Urbanspoon guys (Adam Doppelt, Ethan Lowry, and Patrick O’Donnell); as well as VCs Erik Benson, Geoff Entress, Enrique Godreau, Bill McAleer, Michelle Jacobson Goldberg, Brad Silverberg, Greg Gottesman, Steve Hall, and Melinda Lewison.

We hope to have more on the Seattle program soon.

Gregory T. Huang is Xconomy's National IT Editor and the Editor of Xconomy Boston. You can e-mail him at gthuang@xconomy.com, call him at 617-252-7323, or follow him at twitter.com/gthuang.